Young Apprentice

Week 2 - Cookery Book (3x2)

: 08, 2012

It's week two and, as the remaining 11 candidates bid to be crowned The Young Apprentice - and take home the £25,000 prize to kick start their business ambitions - things are about to get tasty. After a punishing first task, Lord Sugar turns up the heat as the eleven remaining business-minded teenagers are called to a trendy French restaurant in London's Mayfair to discover their latest challenge. Both teams have to design and print a new cook book, before pitching it to three of Britain's biggest book sellers. The team with the most orders will win, and one member of the losing team will be sent home. The cookery book industry is worth more than 84 million pounds a year. But winning a slice of it isn't easy, as almost 2,000 new books, from celebrity titles to TV spin-offs, hit the streets every year. Both teams must first come up with a new concept, before testing their ideas at a focus group. Next, they visit professional chefs to gain inspiration for their new recipes, before photographing the dishes and designing the finished book at Harper Collins, one of Britain's oldest publishers. Conflict ensues as Maria, the lone girl in a team full of boys, convinces 16-year-old project manager Sean - who lists the title 'World's Youngest Publisher' on his CV - to narrow their target readership down to professional women. Meanwhile, after a distinctly unsavoury row over the difference between a recipe and a list of ingredients, cupcake queen Lucy has to manage her team's inability to spell correctly. As each team faces nerve-wracking pitches to three major book sellers - Waterstones, Sainsbury's and Play.com - the cracks begin to show and, in the boardroom, the candidates face a thorough grilling before the team which has won the most orders is revealed.